In February 1989, Stevens drew considerable flak from the press for condoning a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses. He has since backpedaled somewhat, claiming that he had only stated the punishment for blasphemers required under Islamic law, which was then twisted into by the press into approval for the death sentence. At the same time, he has not made a statement directly opposing the fatwa, saying only that Muslims must respect the laws of the country they inhabit. Stevens claims that his statement reflected his naivety as a "new Muslim"; at the time, he had only been practicing it for 11 years:

"I was simply a new Muslim who had stated something which I considered quite plain and obvious and if you were to ask a bible student you know what the Ten Commandments were you would expect him to repeat them honestly, you wouldn't blame him for doing so; the Bible is full of similar headlines if you’re looking for them."